Doosan Bears part ways with manager Kim Tae-hyoung

Kim Tae-hyoung [NEWS1]

After seven years, seven Korean Series appearances, three pennants and three championship titles, the Doosan Bears have decided to part ways with enigmatic manager Kim Tae-hyoung.

Doosan announced Tuesday that the club will not be renewing Kim’s contract.

“We appreciate Kim’s hard work and leadership through the team’s heyday,” the club said in a statement. “We made this decision in consideration of the team’s long-term direction.”

Kim was a crucial part of the Bears operation for the best part of 30 years, joining the club in 1990 as a catcher and playing 11 years before graduating to a playing coach in 2001 and fully transitioning to the Bears’ coaching staff in 2002.

After 10 years as a battery coach, Kim briefly moved to the SK Wyverns, now the SSG Landers, for two years, before returning to Doosan as manager in 2015.

Doosan won the championship title in Kim’s first year at the helm, sweeping the Samsung Lions in the Korean Series despite finishing the regular season in third place.

That 2015 title started one of the most dominant reigns in Korean baseball history, with the Bears returning in 2016 to take the pennant and sweep the Korean Series.

Doosan continued to make it to the Korean Series for the next five years, winning the pennant in 2018 and both the pennant and the Korean Series title in 2019. The Bears slipped further down the regular season table in 2020 and 2021, finishing third and fourth, but still came alive in the postseason to reach the Korean Series.

Prioritizing player development and a versatile lineup, Kim successful kept the Bears afloat even as they lost a long line of starting players to free agency in recent years. He was known as a strong-willed and decisive leader with a clear idea of how he wanted the game played, a trait that is said to have occasionally got him into trouble back when he was a player.

Kim’s departure comes after one of the worst seasons in Doosan history, with the Bears finishing in ninth place, the club’s lowest ranking since the 10-team era began.

"We will appoint a new coach as soon as possible to prepare for next season," Doosan said in a statement.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]